Hero Of The Day
by redshell234
Summary: Orochimaru intervened after the Kyuubi's sealing, causing life-changing consequences, for everyone.
1. My Hero

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

It was ridiculously easy for him to kill the shinobi tasked with taking the child to the hospital. Doubtless, it was because of his sheer skill as a shinobi. Or maybe her extreme lack of skill. Regardless, it wouldn't be until they started clean-up that they discovered her throat had been slit by a kunai.

In any case, the man carried the squawling brat through one of his many labs, finally arriving at a room he had set up for a purpose similar to the one that had caused him to be driven out of his home village. Placing the child in one of the tubes covering the walls, he approached the only space on the wall not taken up by a tube, and began sifting through the scrolls covering the shelves in the wall until he came across the one he was looking for.

Applying some chakra to the scroll, but only enough to produce one of the vials in it, he shook the vial of red liquid briefly as he approached the child once again. Setting things up so that the blood in the vial would be replicated as needed, he set it to splicing the DNA in a matter of hours. It would be an extremely painful process for the child, but his unique status would bring the brat through it. And the man who had set up the process was fully aware that he did not have much time. _Sensei will likely be searching for the brat now. _He thought, activating some security measures as he exited the lab. Instantly, steel doors slammed into place, silencing the baby's cries to his ears. _Finally, I was about to kill the child and be done with it, experiment be damned._

Slamming his palm into the floor of the room, he poured some chakra into it and grinned in satisfaction as the seals covering every surface of the room lit up. Straightening from his former position, the traitor let off a grunt that told of his aggravation. "Such a chakra-consuming technique for only one use." He muttered, then shook out his arms in preparation for those who would come to attack him, and retrieve the brat that was doubtless screaming behind the steel door.

After all, it was a painful process.

* * *

Sarutobi blanched when he realized that Naruto was not where he should be. He mobilized his ANBU to seek out the boy. It was possible for the hospital staff to have missed filling out an admittance form in the rush of attempting to heal those that had more pressing injuries than a recently born baby.

Exactly one hour later, the pipe he'd been smoking worriedly in an attempt to calm his frayed nerves was dropped from his lips as the ANBU reported that they had not found the boy. Quickly mobilizing all available Konoha forces, which included his old teammates, they set to locating the missing boy. It would be the second time in as many days that he donned his armor, and he hoped it would be the last.

* * *

Taking his teammates with him, they began to navigate the underground of Konoha, reluctantly led by Danzo. Yes, the man's ROOT operated out of the tunnels, but it was a necessary evil. For future wartime efforts, they would need shinobi willing to take suicide missions, and ROOT did whatever Danzo wanted of them. Hiruzen did not have to condone what Danzo did to recognize something useful when he saw it.

The cyclops in question led them through the tunnels, swiftly approaching one of Orochimaru's deserted labs. His scouts had reported the area inaccessible, which meant the snake was here. Laughter greeted them as they entered the antechamber, with Orochimaru, clad in the Akatsuki cloak, there to greet them.

"Hello sensei. I see you've brought your old teammates as well. Excuse me if I do not follow protocol, but I have to keep you from entering the chamber behind me for another fifteen minutes." The Sannin declared, shifting into a ready stance.

A soft clack resounded through the room as the resident warhawk's cane hit the floor. "Are you alright, old friend?" Sarutobi quietly asked, the staff of the Monkey King held in his hands.

"I am fine, Hiruzen." Danzo replied, removing the bandages wrapped around his arm. What appeared to be a wooden substance covered it, and he quickly flashed through some seals before thrusting an open palm towards the White Snake, a wooden barrier rising up from the floor to encase the traitor.

Orochimaru jumped out of the way, using the attempted cage as a springboard to launch himself higher. Attaching himself to the ceiling through application of chakra, the Sannin raised an eyebrow at Danzo's arm. "It seems that not all of my research was destroyed, eh?" He commented dryly.

Hiruzen merely filed away Danzo's new ability for later consideration. Danzo's base was in the tunnels, which meant he had far easier access to any of Orochimaru's research. It would be a simple matter to spirit away some of the research materials.

Orochimaru formed some hand signs quickly, leaping backwards as he did in order to give himself some more distance from his opponents. As much as he was loath to admit it, all he was doing here was stalling them. "Doton: Doryu Heki!" He cried out, spitting the stream of mud several yards in front of his former sensei.

Instead of a simple barrier, which was the original idea for the technique, the one who sought immortality displayed his mastery over his own elemental affinity as he created a solid wall that blocked off the rest of the room from his foes.

Following the wall with another set of seals, Orochimaru spit out several renditions of Katon: Hosenka, baking the mud into clay. While no match for some truly powerful techniques, the clay wall would serve to force his opponents to waste chakra attempting to get past it.

Orochimaru was broken out of his reverie at the sound of the wall breaking, followed swiftly by a large group of kunai and shuriken thrown at him. Easily dodging the pitiful attempt, Orochimaru cursed as he was suddenly surrounded by several copies of each of the foursome before him. A single punch rendered one of the copies of Sarutobi into a puddle of mud that quickly fell to the floor, confirming the snake's suspicions, before he set to the task of destroying the clones, which began attacking him in earnest.

Mud clones were far less chakra intensive than shadow clones, but, much like water clones, they were far weaker than the original.

His senses saved this skin as he barely dodged the extension of Enma's staff form, followed by jumping up once more as the staff was suddenly swept to the side.

At the smirk spread across Sarutobi's face, Orochimaru cursed, realizing his mistake. It was near impossible to maneuver in the air, and Shunshin was useless while in the air. As Himura's Suiryuudan bore down upon him, Orochimaru countered with a Karyuu Endan, bathing the room in steam that he quickly capitalized on. "Suiton: Kirigakure No Jutsu!" He called, holding the requisite seal until the room was covered in mist.

He was not skilled in the Silent Killing Art, but he was simply trying to delay them. He channeled chakra to his ears, heightening his sense of hearing. The labored breathing of the elderly warriors, and as close together as it was, told him that they had put their backs to each other, ensuring that Orochimaru could not kill them one by one.

Suddenly, one of the sets of breathing vanished, and the shuffling of feet notified him that the remaining trio had shifted into a standard Manji formation, although a close one. Where was the other one, however?

A blade piercing his chest from behind answered his question as the owner of the tanto grinned in satisfaction. Danzo cursed when the White Snake's corpse dissapeared from his tanto's edge, dissolving into smoke. "It was a Kage Bunshin!" He called into the room, fully aware that the fighting was now over. He had been informed by his spies that there was no one else other than Orochimaru in the room. It also explained the Snake's lack of chakra, which Danzo had originally put down to dealing with Konoha nin and ROOT on his way to the lab.

The steel slab behind Danzo opened, and the first sound to greet the foursome was the screaming of a baby in pain.

* * *

Sarutobi sat at his desk several minutes later, still clad in his battle armor. Tsunade held the white-haired baby in her arms, though she looked none too pleased to be doing it, and Jiraiya was leaning against the wall.

Danzo's bandages were once again covering his arm, and the cane was also back in place, which he was leaning heavily against. Danzo had put his back to one of the walls, and ensured that each of the room's exits were visible to him. Koharu and Homura had seated themselves in the couches that had become their second home, and the room's final occupant was the one to break the silence.

"What's with the gathering, Hokage-sama?" Shikaku Nara asked, his face the picture of confusion.

"That is what you are here for, Shikaku. The baby that Tsunade-hime is holding is Uzumaki Naruto, and the Jinchuuriki for the Kyuubi no Yoko. He is also an unofficial member of both the Namikaze and Senju clans. Namikaze, because of who his father was, and Senju, because of Orochimaru's experimentation." The Professor declared sadly, his face displaying his own grief in a rare display of complete loss of emotional control.

"I see. I take it Orochimaru is long gone?" At the Sandaime's confirming nod, Shikaku breathed an annoyed sigh. "Alright. So, what's next?"

"If I may interrupt, old friend, perhaps you should go over why we are the ones being told this information. For the benefit of those among us not... strategically minded." This last comment was directed towards Jiraiya, causing the self-proclaimed Super Pervert to scowl.

"Very well. Myself, Danzo, Homura, and Koharu are aware because we found Naruto. Tsunade and Jiraiya are aware because they are my chosen successors, not to mention that I want Jiraiya to keep an eye on Naruto, should Tobirama-sensei's DNA do something to the seal. Shikaku has been made aware because he is the Jonin Commander. Any questions?" Saruotbi asked, to which Danzo once again voiced his opinion.

"Is there a reason why I am not amongst your chosen successors?" He growled out, to which Jiraiya scoffed.

"It might be because you'll lead Konoha into a war you cannot win." The Toad Hermit muttered, receiving a silencing glare from his sensei for the comment.

"Danzo, you are not amongst my successors because Konoha needs your full attention focused on your ROOT program. We will need your ROOT should Konoha enter a war." Sarutobi left the reasons that they would need it unsaid. Danzo recognized what they were, however, and gave a nod. The crippled man had decided, long ago, that he would do whatever it took to preserve Konoha. If that meant destroying everything he'd built, so be it.

"Everything that has just been discussed is declared an S-Class secret. Discussing this secret with anyone outside of this room without my, or Naruto's, permission, will result in swift punishment, in the form of execution. That goes for you as well, Tora." He stated, the last part directed to the short ANBU standing behind him.

"Hai." The boy stated quietly, then resumed his silent vigil. "Very well. As my first act as Hokage, I regret to inform you that we will not be fulfilling Minato-kun's wishes due to Orochimaru's actions. That is all. Dismissed." The newly reinstated Hokage ordered, to which each of the room's other occupants, save the child ANBU, left.

The Hokage slumped in his chair, picking his pipe up from his desk and re-lighting it. Soon, the room was bathed in the smell of pipe tobacco. "I just hope that Minato-kun will forgive me." He stated quietly, the words heard only by himself and his silent protector. He breathed a sigh before pulling some paperwork towards himself, and began filling it out.

This, he would do himself. After he finished with this set of paperwork, he would leave a Kage Bunshin to fill out the rest of it and go home and get some much-needed sleep.


	2. School's Out

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

A/N: I fixed up Chapter 1, so read the new version.

* * *

Naruto blinked as his newest teacher had him hanging from the tree in the center of the garden by a length of ninja wire wrapped around one of his ankles, the other end tied around one of the tree's branches.

He struggled, briefly, before a kunai suddenly whizzed by him, neatly slicing open one of his cheeks. Naruto gasped, feeling his cheek as blood welled up from the cut. He stared at the woman that had thrown the kunai, contently munching away on her dango.

"Well, come on kid. You're burning daylight. Cut yourself free and we'll start your weapons training." She said, chewing on the stick she'd just finished in an attempt to get some of the remaining bits off it.

Twisting his body around, Naruto saw the kunai embedded in the tree. Swinging back and forth, he reached his hand out and grabbed it, pulling it from the tree with some effort. Bending his body almost completely over he cut himself free of the wire. His success was short-lived, however, as he landed harshly on his back.

"Owww." He stated, moving to a standing position. The kunai wasn't one of the blunt ones that that scarred guy made him use whenever he came around. No, this one was a real kunai that real shinobi used.

"Okay, brat. We're going to practice the motion for throwing each of the three ninja tools." She said, producing a shuriken and a senbon needle from a pocket of her jacket. Naruto grinned, pain already forgotten. Then, she promptly began throwing the weapons at him.

"We're also going to practice dodging incoming projectiles." She stated casually, producing a seemingly endless number of said projectiles from such skimpy clothes.

"You suck, Anko-sensei!" Naruto crowed, knowing the rules of this 'practice session'. If he ducked behind an object, she would obliterate it with a jutsu and continue throwing things. Some might ask how exactly this trained him how to throw. Well, he had to pick them up off the ground and throw them back. If his form wasn't perfect, he received a cut on some part of his body for his efforts.

* * *

Six Years Later...

* * *

Yamanaka Ino sat at the counter of Yamanaka Flowers, flipping through the most recent copy of Kunoichi Today. She had to keep up with the latest in shinobi fashion, after all, even if she was spending her Saturday here. But she'd promised her father that she'd watch the shop while he and her mother were out. The bell above the door dinged as someone entered the shop, and she did not bother looking up from her magazine.

"Hi, welcome to Yamanaka Flowers. Let me know if I can help you with anything." She said, idly turning a page of her magazine. It was probably a customer that wanted one of the pre-done arrangements anyway.

"Hello." Came the quiet reply, and Ino's head shot up so fast it was amazing she didn't give herself whiplash. What was Sarutobi Naruto doing here? She ducked under the counter, pretending to be rummaging around for something while she used the vanity mirror she'd placed there for just such a purpose to make sure she looked good.

While she was checking her makeup in the mirror, Naruto was walking down one of the aisles, minding his own business as he looked for what he wanted.

It came as a surprise to the youth when suddenly his classmate, Ino, practically appeared at his side. "So, Naruto, what can I help you with? Do you need an arrangement done?" She asked, careful to appear helpful and interested but not too eager.

Naruto shifted the senbon he was chewing on across to the other side of his mouth, and returned his hands to the pockets of his navy sleeveless hooded sweatshirt. The sweatshirt was unzipped, leaving his simple forest green shirt open to the viewer. Under the tee shirt he wore a mesh one, also sleeveless.

His pants were the color of the charcoal many of Konoha's smiths used when smelting, and his ninja sandals were the same color as his sweatshirt. Finally, his hair was the same shade as the chalk Iruka-sensei used to write on the blackboard.

Ino shook her head, realizing that she'd been checking him out. Thankfully, he hadn't noticed, or was pretending he hadn't. "I'm here to get an arrangement done. Something to take to the grave of a loved one." He said, emotion causing his voice to shake slightly.

Showing surprising tact for the leader of a clique like hers, Ino simply quietly told him to follow her and give his input on what flowers he did or didn't want. She told him what flower meant what, and soon he had an arrangement in his hands.

"How much do I owe you?" Naruto asked as they returned to the counter, Ino closing her magazine in a way that she attempted to make nonchalant. When Naruto caught her and raised an eyebrow, she blushed.

Naruto paid the required amount, then paused as his eyes followed her slim arm up to her face. "You should eat more." He commented, knowing she dieted from what he'd seen at the Academy.

"I have to diet so I can maintain my figure and look good!" She retorted, angry that he would say such a thing.

Naruto blinked, raising an eyebrow at such a defense of her dieting. "Ino. We are ninja. We are active enough on a day-to-day basis that you could eat nothing but dumplings all day and 'maintain your figure'. The amount of exertion that goes into being a ninja is astonishing. You're only hurting yourself." Advice given, he turned and left the small flower shop.

After making sure he was gone, Ino poked at the bandages covering her stomach. _Is he right? Am I dieting for no reason?_ She thought, then quietly pushed the magazine off the counter and into the trash. If Naruto said it, it had to be true. After all, he was the number one student in their class.

* * *

Naruto's hands were once again in the pockets of his sweatshirt as he stood in front of the Memorial Stone, his bouqet replacing the old one there, placed there about a week earlier by someone else. "Hi, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto greeted, as he was joined by Konoha's resident cycloptic pervert. The man had taught Naruto all of the jutsu the teen knew, and had promised to give him help whenever he could.

"Naruto." The silver-haired man returned, settling one hand atop his sometimes-student's head. The boy grumbled about teachers who didn't know the meaning of boundaries, but nevertheless returned to chewing his senbon. He would never admit it to it, but he had picked up the habit when he was younger, after seeing one Chuunin doing it. The guy had looked cool, which made Naruto want to do it.

"Isn't the exam tomorrow?" Kakashi asked, wondering if his standing request would be accepted. He'd put it in ages ago, as soon as it had become possible to do so. He'd been blocked when he sought apprenticeship, but a three-man cell was better than not teaching him at all.

* * *

The next day, Naruto entered the classroom, greeted by the sight of the resident brooding asshole, Uchiha Sasuke. Grunting in something that could be passed off as a greeting, Naruto climbed the stairs up to the top right corner of the room, then took the seat closest to the window.

Opening the window, he sat in his chair and leaned it back against the wall, choosing to emulate his friend, Shikamaru Nara, and take a nap.

Several minutes later, he was woken up by someone sitting next to him with a huff. "Sakura beat you to the seat?" He asked, grinning around his senbon when she chose to answer with another huff. The other seat was taken by Shino, the bug user.

"Good morning." Shino greeted, refraining from placing his hands on the desk.

Naruto had been about to answer Shino's greeting when a piece of chalk came flying up from the lower part of the room and hit him in the forehead with pinpoint accuracy. Opening one eye to glare at the chalk-thrower, he reluctantly returned all four chair legs to the floor.

"Now that I have everyone's attention, we can start the exam. Good luck, and may you all serve Konoha with the Will of Fire." Iruka stated, giving the customary opening statement before handing out the written portion of the exam.

Iruka led the class out to the training field reserved by the Academy 24/7, then told them to take up positions around the ring. While it wasn't a true ring, it may as well have been. So many taijutsu finals had been conducted here that a section of the field in the exact center had no grass, and was actually about two inches lower than the rest of the area.

"Alright then. First match, Yamanaka Ino vs. Sorataka Ami." In the interest of fairness, girls fought other girls, and boys fought other boys. As the two took up their positions inside the makeshift ring, Ino found herself standing directly across from Naruto.

Iruka broke her out of her thoughts, by calling out for the match to begin. Ami charged across the clearing towards her, and Ino ducked under the leading punch, lashing out with a leg sweep that brought her around into perfect position for a follow-up kick, but only because of how flexible she was.

Using the remaining momentum from the leg sweep to spin herself, Ino leaped into the air and brought her foot around, intending to land a blow to Ami's stomach. The bully was having none of it however, and rolled out of the way.

Ino's landing kicked up dust and she quickly backed away, intending to keep herself out of out of range of retaliation. Ami seemed to have had just such a thought, as her fist impacted the ground where Ino had just been.

Hissing in pain, Ami pulled her fist back, cradling it to her chest. This moment would prove to be her undoing, however, as Ino took the momentary lapse in judgement as her cue to end the match.

Sprinting forward, she grabbed a fistful of Ami's hair and brought the purple-haired girl's head down into the ground, face-first.

"Alright Ino, that's enough." Iruka called out, and Ino rose from her position seated on Ami's back, then dusted herself off before moving over to one of the open spots in the crowd, this one right next to Naruto.

"A little brutal there at the end, don't you think?" Naruto asked, smirking slightly as he made a motion towards Ami, who was nursing an apparently broken nose.

"I figured I'd finish her off while she was distracted. Plus, I've always wanted to make her eat dirt. Win-win scenario." Ino commented, giving a shrug. The taller boy returned the shrug, then strolled out onto the makeshift field as Iruka called out his name.

Standing across from his rotund friend, Naruto shook out his shoulders before assuming his stance. "Alright Choji, give it your all!" He called out to Akimichi, who gave a firm nod.

When Iruka told them to start, Naruto moved in to Choji, knowing that the Akimichi boy wouldn't make the first punch. He wanted his friend to make a good showing, and if that meant taking a few punches, so be it.

Throwing a punch, Naruto watched it impact against the chip-munching boy's shoulder, who then grinned as he looped an arm around Naruto's outstretched arm, then heaved the white-haired boy over his shoulder in a textbook throw.

Allowing himself to be carried up and over, Naruto surprised Choji by securing his grip around his larger classmate's arm, then landed heavily on the other side, before throwing a vicious punch that Choji moved his head out of the way to dodge, before retaliating with a punch of his own.

Feeling the punch impact his ribs, Naruto grunted when he heard the telltale crack that announced his now cracked rib. They released their grip on each other and began trading blows, Naruto strangely only throwing punches. His fighting style was odd, too. He hadn't attacked with a single kick for the entirety of the spar.

"What is that style?" Shikamaru muttered to himself, watching as Naruto used his forearm to block another of Choji's punches, then punch Choji's side twice before the Akimichi could get away.

The match went on in a similar fashion, with it being extremely close between the two. Finally, Naruto landed the deciding blow, a single punch that the Sarutobi seemed to put all of his weight into.

The punch hit Choji squarely on the jaw, knocking Choji to the ground. Iruka chose that moment to call the match, causing Naruto to help Choji to his feet, and then back to the sidelines.

"Come on Choji, I'll buy you some yakitori after school's over." The Akimichi, who had seemed glum over his loss, brightened at the prospect of free food. Not to mention that Naruto was perfectly fine with Choji eating his fill, which made him like it even more when Naruto paid.

The next match was between Kiba and Sasuke. As expected, Kiba took a sound beating, though he did manage to get in several hits on 'The Last Loyal Uchiha'.

Naruto watched each fight happen disinterestedly, though he did pay attention to Shikamaru's fight against Maruboshi Daisuke, another civilian boy whose parents had some money to throw away. After the lazy Nara decimated his opponent, he returned to standing on Choji's other side.

"What a drag. Now my mom is probably going to hear about this, and I'll get yelled at for being too rough or something." Shikamaru muttered, then promptly sat down next to Choji. Standing up was too much effort right now.

* * *

"And now, for the ninjutsu portion of the test. Each of you will come up to the front of the room, and perform the three jutsu taught here." Iruka stated after the one-hour lunch break that took place between the taijutsu portion and the ninjutsu portion.

Naruto watched each of the students go before him, then stood and walked to the front of the room, chewing on a new senbon. Iruka had made him take it out on the way to the taijutsu test, and he hadn't had a chance to get another one, since Choji insisted on lightening his wallet.

"Alright, Naruto. First, perform the Henge. Transform into a person of your choice." Iruka said, to which Naruto simply made the requisite seals. In a blink of an eye, where Sarutobi Naruto had once stood, now stood Tobirama Senju, the Nidaime Hokage, in his armor.

"Very good. Kawamiri with anything in the room." Once again, Naruto made the seals. Where Naruto stood was now a chair, and Naruto was casually leaning against one of the desks in the center of the room.

"And now the Bunshin." Iruka stated as Naruto returned to stand before him.

"Can we use any kind of Bunshin?" Naruto asked, to which Iruka raised an eyebrow, but nodded.

"I suppose you could get extra credit for using a different kind." Iruka stated, taking a step back.

"Suiton: Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto called out, grinning in satisfaction when two perfect clones of him formed behind and to his right and left.

"Very good, but where'd you get the water?" Iruka asked, interest piqued.

"A canteen I keep in my pack." Naruto stated, then waited for Iruka to give his verdict.

"You pass, Naruto." Iruka said, smiling slightly as he passed the headband to his now two-times student. And both times, he'd learned everything Iruka had taught him.

The rest of the exams passed without event, with Iruka reluctantly failing those who hadn't passed, and passing the ones who had succeeded.

"I'm home!" Naruto called out, kicking his sandals off. As he passed by a portion of the wall that had feet sticking out of it and was sideways, he casually leaned over it and good-naturedly punched his little brother in the head, then continued on to the kitchen so he could get a glass of water.

"Ko', you need to hold your camoflauge properly." He threw over his shoulder, knowing that Konohamaru looked up to him.

"Naruto-nii, can you teach me? Ebisu-sensei is always trying to teach me useless stuff! Please?" Konohamaru followed him into the kitchen, to which Naruto grinned.

"Sure, I'll teach you something."


	3. Who Are You

Obligatory disclaimer: You know the drill. I own nothing.

A/N: Alrighty then, people. I try not to do these too often, but this one is warranted. Look up any one of Advent of Shadow's stories. He's my beta (as I am his), wingman, and all-around good friend. His stories are excellent, and I highly recommend them. This will also be the place for me to answer reviewer questions and the like. As always, C&C is welcome, and encouraged.

* * *

The day of team assignments rolled around a lot faster than Naruto would have liked, mostly because he liked teaching Konohamaru. The little brat was an attentive student, when the subject matter actually interested him. Even if said subject matter was 'super cool jutsu'.

Chuckling at his surrogate little brother's enthusiasm for getting stronger, Naruto entered the classroom for what would hopefully be the last time. Shifting his senbon in his mouth, the white-haired youth climbed to the top of the room and took his customary seat.

Minutes later, he was relieved when the other two seats at this desk were taken by Shikamaru and Chouji, respectively. He could do without the headache caused by listening to Ino talk about how annoying Sakura was, or how cute Sasuke-kun was.

While the rotund Akimichi took to munching on a bag of chips that seemed to come from a never-ending supply – Naruto would have to look into just where he kept them all, it had to be a pocket dimension or something – Shikamaru did what was customary, and promptly fell asleep.

Iruka walked in roughly fifteen minutes later, causing Naruto to shake his pineapple-haired friend awake.

"The following teams have been gone over by me, Hokage-sama, and the Jonin Commander, Nara Shikaku. They are final, and will not be argued." He chose not to mention that teams would only be shuffled in the event of a death. Better to let them be kids as long as they could be.

While Iruka rolled through the teams, Naruto stifled a yawn as he listened for his name, or the names of his friends. Everyone else's name went in one ear and out the other, mostly because he honestly did not care.

"Team seven will be Hyuuga Hinata, Haruno Sakura, and Akimichi Choji, under jonin Yuhi Kurenai. Team eight is Uchiha Sasuke, Aburame Shino, and Nara Shikamaru, under jonin Sarutobi Asuma. Team nine is still in rotation, so we'll skip that one." Naruto sighed. This meant that the only friend he could possibly end up with now was Kiba. While it wasn't too bad, the Inuzuka was still a loud-mouthed idiot.

"Finally, team ten will be Sarutobi Naruto, Yamanaka Ino, and Inuzuka Kiba, under jonin Hatake Kakashi. Everyone is free to go to lunch. Be back in one hour. Don't be late." With that, Iruka left the room, doubtless to return to his office before the rush of students could overtake him.

"Troublesome." Shikamaru muttered, standing from his seat and moving towards the door. He was joined by Chouji and Shino, the former unwilling to allow his friend to go off without him just yet, and the latter finding it logical to get to know his future teammate.

Naruto stood, intending to head to a nearby river so he could get some training done. Ino was having none of that, apparently, because she grabbed him by the hood of his sweatshirt and dragged him out the door before he was able to get her to let him go.

"Ino, I think I can walk. I'm not incapable of such trivial tasks, unlike the mutt following us." He stated, earning a growl from the Inuzuka in question. "I'd kick your ass, Naruto, but I bet we'll need all the strength we can get. Hana told me that we'll have to fight an oni to pass our test." Kiba returned, sound as over-confident as ever.

"Naruto, before you ask, we are not getting yakinku. We are going to a proper restaurant, and I'm going to make you order something other than grilled meat." Ino ordered the newly-declared Rookie of the Year, who decided that it was less hassle to just go along with it. Sometimes, Shikamaru's world view was beneficial. Like now.

It went uncommented upon that Naruto and Ino were studiously ignoring Kiba, mostly because everyone knew Kiba was a dumbass.

* * *

As they came to the restaurant, Naruto sighed in exasperation as they were promptly seated, jumping over several people that had been waiting in the process, all because of his last name. Ino picked up a menu and began scanning over the options.

When a waiter came to their table, Ino ordered some yakitori and Kiba ordered yakinku, to Ino's chagrin.

While they were waiting for their food to come, Ino decided to speak once again. "Let's get this team dynamic thing down right now. I'm the leader, and that's all there is to it. Naruto's my backup. Kiba, you're the human meat-shield, since Akamaru is too small to be an effective one."

Ino smiled in a sickly sweet way, as if daring the two to argue against their 'duties'. Thankfully, any argument that had been forthcoming was silenced when the food arrived. Kiba began to dig in, showing some manners, to Ino's relief.

Naruto, on the other hand, had ordered sashimi. Ino made a gagging noise as he picked up a piece and ate it, to which he simply grinned. Kiba's order of seconds made sense when it was noticed that he was also feeding Akamaru some of his meat.

Ino picked at her chicken, still somewhat believing that it was beneficial to diet. Naruto resisted the urge to grumble when he noticed, remembering that people don't change on a whim. It takes time. Resolving to get his blonde teammate to quit dieting, the white-haired Sarutobi continued eating his sashimi, trying to not laugh at the faces she was making while he was eating it.

* * *

"I still can't believe you made me pay the bill." Kiba groused as they were returning to the Academy.

"You should have thought of that before you ordered so much. Naruto paid for Choji's food yesterday, and I'm a lady. A lady never pays." As if that finished it, she turned back around and returned to leading the way.

Kiba shot a look at Naruto, who simply shrugged in a resigned way, as if he were already used to her. The Sarutobi had always been easygoing, though, so it was more likely that he would rather not deal with the headache that would arise from arguing with Ino.

The Inuzuka resorted to grumbling about bossy blondes, though whether Ino heard it or simply chose to ignore it was anyone's guess. Regardless, they were soon at the Academy, and they walked past two Jonin having a conversation, one of whom seemed to not like the fact that the other was smoking. He didn't seem to care, however, or found it amusing that she didn't like his smoking.

The newly minted genin re-entered their classroom, and, seeing that the others were sitting together, Ino dragged her two new teammates to a desk and took the outside seat. Naruto took the middle seat before Kiba could do so, mostly to avoid an argument, and Kiba took the final seat.

Akamaru apparently chose that moment to get acquainted with his new teammates as well, because the puppy hopped off of his partner's head onto the desk and approached Ino, who began to scratch the dog's ears.

Once everyone had returned, the Jonin came in and took their teams. The smoker – now identified as Asuma – seemed surprised that a certain silver-haired, cycloptic shinobi was on time.

"Naruto, grab your team and meet me on the roof." With that greeting out of the way, the Jonin in question promptly utilized the Shunshin to get to the roof ahead of his team. Doubtless, he was showboating for the greenhorns. But the greenhorns in question didn't need to know that.

Naruto sighed before rising to his feet. "Come on. Kakashi-sensei's a little... eccentric, so bear with me." He advised, then put his hands in his pockets and left the room.

* * *

"Alright, since not everyone here knows each other, we'll be doing introductions. My name is Hatake Kakashi. You're too young to know what I like... My dislikes are people who won't listen... My dream for the future is to meet Jiraiya-sama... and you're too young to know my hobbies, either. Blondie, you're up." Kakashi stated from his seated position on the roof.

Ino nodded, and cleared her throat. "My name is Yamanaka Ino. I like looking good, my family, and boys. I dislike idiots, working the flower shop, and Forehead. My dreams for the future are to become head of the Yamanaka Clan and find a cute boy to marry. My hobbies are shopping, and spending time with my family."

_Alright, so first up we have a materialistic girl who could be salvaged, and i__t seems she's on the way there judging by her dream to lead the clan. It could be worse. _Kakashi thought, turning to Kiba and making a vague motion with his hand, indicating for him to introduce himself.

Kiba cleared his throat, and then began speaking, ignoring the nonchalant way the two other males on the roof were sitting. Assholes. How could they look so cool, just sitting there? "I'm Inuzuka Kiba, and this here is Akamaru. I like Akamaru, learning new techniques from my family, my sister, and meat. I don't like that asshole Sasuke, and places that don't allow dogs. My dream for the future is to invent new techniques for the Inuzuka with Akamaru's help. My hobbies are training, taking care of the Inuzuka dogs, and hanging out with my friends." The dog in question gave a bark when he was introduced, causing Kakashi to grin somewhat. He would have to introduce his own dogs soon. Maybe if they passed the test?

Not needing to be signaled, Naruto continued chewing on his senbon as he spoke, causing Ino to scowl at the habit. She'd always thought chewing on anything was just gross. And chewing on a senbon needle? That _had_ to be bad for your teeth. The things were made of metal, after all.

"I'm Sarutobi Naruto. I like Konohamaru, Asuma, Hokage-sama, my father, and training. I dislike being recognized for my name, stupid decisions, and my birthday. My dream for the future is two-fold: to become the Hokage's personal bodyguard and to be in every other country's Bingo Book. My hobbies are training and telling others when they're being stupid." Ino blushed at both 'stupid' comments, knowing they were directed at her.

Everyone reacted similarly to his comment about his birthday, since, really, who doesn't like their birthday? Ino decided to address this, apparently being the most outspoken of the other three.

"Naruto, why don't you like your bir-" She began, only to be interrupted by Naruto.

"Introductions are finished, Kakashi-sensei. What is our first mission?"

"Ah, about that. See, you guys aren't really genin. You passed the test in the Academy, sure, but that just means that you've got the potential. You've got to pass my test, or else you fail. You don't want to fail. You'll get put in the ROOT program." Understandably, the genin exploded at that, though Naruto was much more subdued than his teammates.

"WHAT THE HELL? I WORKED MY ASS OFF FOR NOTHING?" Screamed Ino, who, for such a tiny girl, had a real set of lungs on her.

"This is bullshit, man! Whatever! I'm not going into ROOT, I've seen my cousin!" Kiba's voice was raised, though not nearly as much as Ino's. Akamaru had whined in pain when her voice entered his ears.

"You suck, Kakashi-sensei." This last one came from Naruto, and was said at normal speaking volume. Almost like he was halfway into ROOT already, Kakashi noted.

"Meet me at Training Ground Three in fifteen minutes." The Jonin stated, and then vanished in a swirl of leaves. Naruto would really have to look into that technique. It was useful, if it truly did allow the user to move faster.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, the genin were at the specified training ground, in varying states of tiredness, ranging from Ino, who looked on the verge of an asthma attack, to Kiba, who looked like he'd gone for a pretty decent run, to Naruto, who looked like he'd just gone to the bathroom.

"Well, that at least shows you can be punctual, which is good for a shinobi. Now, your mission is going to be to take these two bells from me. There are two bells here, and that means only two of you pass. The other one fails and gets sent off to ROOT. You have until dusk. Come at me with the intent to kill, or else you're not going to get one. Start whenever you're comfortable to do so." Kakashi said, giving his by now infamous eye-smile.

Ino and Kiba leapt away into the woods, showing surprising tactical ability, at least for the brazen Inuzuka.

"So, you going to go, or are we going to have a nice chat, or what?" Kakashi asked over his book as he pulled it out, flipping to the page he had left off on.

"I think I'll be taking one of those bells, actually." Naruto stated, causing Kakashi to raise his eyebrow in amusement, even if it was hidden behind his headband.

"Is that so? And how do you plan to do that, little would-be genin?" Kakashi questioned, not even looking up from his book. The masked jonin had the utter gall to turn a page in that damn book of his and keep reading.

"We'll see. Suiton: Mizu Bunshin No Jutsu!" Naruto shouted, forming the seals quickly. Kakashi put his book away as a small army of Naruto clones came out of the water, charging Kakashi and engaging him in taijutsu. He wouldn't need Obito's eye for this, but he would need both hands.

As the clones seemed to never end, even if Kakashi was dispatching them with relative ease, Kakashi was surprised to hear the arrogant Inuzuka shout suddenly, signaling that they had gotten the meaning behind the test, even if they didn't realize it.

"No way you're beating me to one of those bells, Naruto! Tsuuga!" The would-be target redirected the spinning force of Kiba into some of the clones, only to feel the effects of one of the more dangerous Yamanaka techniques settle over him, and he froze in place, knowing what would happen if Ino thought he were going to do something she didn't like. _But how did she learn it? I could've__ sworn Inoichi didn't let anyone learn it unless he personally thought they were ready for it. Maybe she snuck a look at the clan scroll?_

"Uh, why'd he stop moving?" Kiba asked, and even Naruto's bunshin, which he had mixed in with, had stopped moving.

"That's because Ino has learned a rather dangerous technique, and decided to use it on me. Didn't you, Ino?"

The platinum-blonde in question came out of the trees, all smiles. "That's right! I waited until Daddy was gone and snuck a look at the part of the scroll he said I couldn't look at. What's not awesome about Noushi Jutsu?" She said, her smile widening at Kakashi's look of horror. "I'll take one of those bells, and Naruto can have the other! Sucks to be you, Kiba!"

Kakashi's eye-smile returned at that, and he straightened, hands going into his pockets again. "You three pass." He said. Then his attention zeroed in on Ino, still smiling. "Ino-chan, let me out of this technique, or else I'll tell your father how you beat me, got it?" Her eyes widened before she quickly nodded, and her fingers dropped from their outstretched position.

Sighing in relief as he was released from _that_ jutsu, he looked up to notice the sky was a very pretty orange color.

"We'll be getting our first mission tomorrow, soon as the Tower opens. Don't be late. Oh, and Ino? That threat will be carried out if you ever use it on me or anyone, unless I give my express permission beforehand. Got me?" He turned and walked away, not needing to hear her squeaked out 'yes'.

Inoichi would likely keep her in the house for the rest of her life, only letting her out for missions, if he ever found out that she'd done that. After all, her father was rarely ever serious with her, and his banning her from that section of the scroll had been one of those serious moments.

"What was that about?" Kiba stage-whispered to Naruto, who simply shrugged and began walking back to the Sarutobi estate. "Who knows? I doubt Ino would tell us. Get walking, pup. I'm sure your mom is waiting for you. Come on Ino, I'll walk you home." He called out the last part to the girl, who seemed in shock over what Kakashi had just said to her.

Snapped out of her daze by Naruto's offer of walking her home, she ran to his side, seeing as he hadn't stopped walking away from the training grounds.

"Thanks for walking me home, Naruto-kun. But why are you? It's not that late, and I'm a ninja now. I think I can take care of myself." She said, looking up at him. Damn him for being taller than her.

"Eh, jiji always told me to be a gentleman with women, regardless of the situation or your personal feelings. So, I'm walking you home."

* * *

"Thanks again for walking me home, Naruto." Ino said to him from just inside the flower shop, smiling as she held the door open to continue the conversation.

"No problem. I'll see you tomorrow, bright and early, since the tower opens at eight in the morning."

Her jaw dropped open, causing Naruto to grin. "Get to sleep Ino; you'll probably take three hours to get ready."

* * *

Jutsu list:

I'll be listing any personally created jutsu here, since you should recognize all of the other jutsu in here.

Noushi Jutsu (A-Ranked);

Direct translation: Brain Death Jutsu.

What it does/Description/Notes: It creates a similar feeling to a genjutsu settling around the target. With an additional seal, the user can fry the target's brain at will. The reason why Kakashi did _not _like the fact that Ino knew it should be rather obvious, as should the reason why Inoichi didn't want her knowing it yet. It's also exclusive to the Yamanaka clan, but that should also be obvious.


	4. Ain't That A Kick In The Head

Obligatory disclaimer: I own nothing, save the idea and any OC's that show up.

Reviewer responses;

**danvo5/ReaperDemon: **I cannot believe that I have to explain this, but here we are. This story is listed as Naruto/Ino. As such, it will be told primarily from their point of view. Naruto thinks of Kiba as a useful dumbass, but that will change. And, honestly, the oni thing? That was a poorly disguised shout-out to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, where Ron thinks they'll have to wrestle a troll. If you think that one character's viewpoint of another character is so pivotal to the story that you stop reading, I suggest you find something else.

**exwindz: **ROOT has always been functioning, throughout the series. Sai is a former member of ROOT, and the Yamanaka and Aburame that fought Madara alongside Danzo were also ROOT.

As far as Kakashi meeting Jiraiya, the only time such a thing would be possible would be random chance, and you'll also have to remember that Jiraiya had a spy network to manage, and he'd doubtless started his wandering long before Minato began training Obito, Kakashi, and Rin.

Shikaku has always been the Jonin Commander. The genin would have been informed of the chain of command in the event of something happening to the Sandaime. If you ask me (and this applies to anything in the Naruto-verse that I write) Shikaku would assume command over anything military related until such a time as the next Hokage is instated.

**Kazeshuriken:** Thanks for the compliment. As far as Tobirama's sword goes, I can't very well reveal a plot point, can I? And yes, Kakashi will always have his tardiness problem. It's a tribute to Obito, remember? His being on time for the bell test was similar to him being on time for missions, in that he knows when he should be on time and when it doesn't really matter.

* * *

As the alarm began going off, a slender hand reached out from beneath the pile of blankets the owner of said hand was buried beneath, and slapped against the alarm, luckily hitting the off button on the first try.

Sitting up, Ino let off a yawn before she swung herself out of her very comfortable bed, shivering in distaste as her bare feet hit the cold floor. She went about her morning routine, ignoring the ungodly hour that the alarm clock screamed at her. After all, who seriously got up at six in the morning?

Setting a personal record for herself, Ino was ready to go at seven thirty. The smells of her mother cooking breakfast wafted up to her, causing her mouth to water. Going down the steps of the flower shop at a rather sedate pace – she didn't want to fall and do something to her beautiful face, after all – she entered the kitchen, passing by the door that led out to the shop proper as she did.

Sitting at the table, she smiled at Izumi as the woman set a plate before her. It was her mother, as usual, attempting to feed Ino more than she usually ate. Digging in without comment, Ino swiftly finished her food and left the store, grabbing an apple to munch on as she made her way to the Hokage tower on her way out the door.

* * *

Naruto was standing outside the tower when Ino walked up, taking a bite out of her apple. When she finished chewing the bite and swallowing it, she pointed at him, as if accusing him of some horrific misdeed.

"What the hell, Naruto! I thought you were Mr. I'm-On-Time-To-Everything!" She cried, letting off an indignant noise when Naruto reached out and snatched her apple before responding.

"Actually, it's Mr. I'm-Early-To-Everything." He corrected dryly before taking a bite from the apple. As Ino let off a scream born of pure frustration, Kiba strolled up and joined them, chewing on a piece of jerky.

"It's way too early for you to be screaming, blondie." Kiba griped, letting off a yawn and stretching. Akamaru gave an agreeing bark before promptly snatched the remaining piece of jerky from Kiba's hand when he'd stretched with his yawn.

Grinning at the puppy's deviousness, Naruto casually handed the apple back after taking another bite, chewing slowly. Once finished with the bit of apple, his usual senbon needle appeared in his mouth.

"Get comfortable. Sensei will probably be about a half-hour late." Naruto explained, speaking from his own experience. After all, when he'd been growing, jiji had called in many favors to ensure that the newest Senju/Namikaze/Kyuubi jinchuuriki was well able to defend himself.

* * *

Exactly thirty minutes later, Kakashi strolled up, reading his book as usual. Recognizing the cover as one of the books her father read that her mother hated, Ino gave yet another irritated huff.

"Alright team, let's go get our first mission. I'm sure it will be... enlightening." Kakashi stated, using the book – and his mask – to hide the utterly evil grin on his face. Oh, how he would relish this.

"Team ten, here for their first mission, Hokage-sama." Kakashi stated, memorizing his page as he put the book away. It was just getting to the good part, too. Ichigo had found out that Fuu was actually his sister, but such a taboo would not get in the way of true love!

Ignoring the giggle coming from their sensei, team ten wordlessly took the scroll that the nameless chunin was holding out for them, and Ino used it to snap Kakashi out of his fantasy world. "Here sensei; our first mission." She stated, handing it to him.

Kakashi opened it and then looked it over before looking at Sarutobi, an unneeded question on what was visible of his features. Sarutobi gave something eerily reminiscent of Kakashi's earlier evil grin, and the team left the building. Oh, how he would relish the looks on their faces when they realized what D-ranks really were.

* * *

"We have to do _what_?" Naruto asked. His irritation was clearly visible from the tic that had been furiously working ever since Kakashi informed them of what they were doing.

"We'll be babysitting the orphanage while the employees run errands." Kakashi stated, knowing that the Hokage had set it up for all of the errands to 'coincidentally' need to be ran on the exact same day. Probably for the first genin team to come in, Kakashi mused.

Regardless, here they were. They were surrounded by children, each demanding something distinctly different. It would be an all-day job, since the errands in question would, doubtless, demand a several hour trip to the hot springs.

"Ino, you're on diaper duty. Kiba, you've got the older kids. Naruto, you've got the rest. Hop to it!" He grinned at the looks on the faces of the genin, each of which promised murder, accompanied with varying degrees of bodily harm beforehand.

Kakashi, meanwhile, would be calmly sitting in a convenient chair, reading his book. How would Fuu and Ichigo deal with the scandal? He must find out!

* * *

As dusk came around, the people that ran the orphanage finally returned, to a team of genin that looked on the verge of going postal, or, in one case, suicide.

Ino was crying as they exited the orphanage, lamenting the fact that she would have to burn her favorite outfit.

Naruto and Kiba were silent the whole way to the tower. While not out of the norm for the former, it was distinctly unsettling for the latter. Even Akamaru was quiet.

When they approached the tower, it appeared that the genin of team seven were just exiting it, doubtless after receiving their pay for their last mission for the day.

Sakura chose to speak up as soon as she could smell Ino. "Geez, Ino-pig! You really live up to your name, don't you?" She asked, being met with a glare from a surprising location.

"Sakura, shut up. The three of us are trying to repress the memory of our last mission. If you speak again before we are out of earshot, I _will_ kill you. Imprisonment be damned." Naruto stated, surprising everyone there. His voice was cold, as if he'd already resolved such a thing with himself.

Quickly steering his team inside, Kakashi took them up to the mission assignment office before Naruto could fulfill his promise.

"Team ten, reporting a successful mission." Kakashi said, ignoring his silent genin. _Kami, hurry the hell up, nameless chunin that no one cares about! _He mentally screamed, attempting to get away from Naruto as quickly as he could. He did not want to be the one who triggered his volatile student.

The chunin decided to take a very long time counting out their pay, as well as saying the apparent trigger words. "How was your first mission?"

Letting out a roar, Naruto attempted to lunge across the desk the chunin was sitting behind, a kunai poised to slit the man's throat. Luckily for the chunin in question, as well as his own sanity, Kakashi caught his student by the hood of the sweatshirt he wore, causing Naruto to let out a 'grk' as he was pulled back.

Quickly disarming his wayward student of the drawn kunai, along with all other potential weapons, Kakashi took both his and Naruto's pay. Setting the now-calm Naruto down, he ordered his students to go home, then performed a rapid series of shunshins to get away from them.

This seemed to snap Ino out of her clothes-induced funk, as she looked at Naruto with shock written all over her features.

"Like I told Sakura, we're trying to repress it." The Sarutobi defended himself, uncaring of the nameless chunin, who looked like he was either about to run away screaming or pass out.

"That was _awesome_!" Kiba crowed, giving Naruto a slap on the back for good measure. After all, he had nearly killed someone for merely mentioning _that mission_, as it had come to be known for Team Kakashi. Even Kakashi had been mentally scarred by it.

"Uh, thanks, I guess." Naruto said, then looked at Kiba and Ino, who were both holding envelopes of money.

"Kakashi-sensei took my money." He stated, then turned to leave. "If I am not paid for _that mission_, I will personally murder every single child in that place." He growled, storming out of the building as he went to locating his sensei. Ino and Kiba decided to head home, mostly because they didn't want to be anywhere near Naruto when he found Kakashi.

Naruto was _scary_.

* * *

A/N: I am fully aware of how short this chapter is. I was shooting for mostly humor here, and, honestly, do you really want to read several paragraphs of Ino changing diapers?


	5. Highway To Hell

Obligatory disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

Three months had passed quickly, too quickly for some. Most of the missions Team Ten had ran were D-ranks, with the occasional C-rank thrown in by Kakashi when he felt that they had earned it, so to speak.

As far as what they'd learned over the three month period, they had all gotten the tree walking exercise down, as well as the water walking exercise. Ino had begun learning medical jutsu at Kakashi's suggestion, though he never did explain the forlorn sigh he gave every time her hands glowed green. He'd also given her some lessons on genjutsu, giving a cryptic comment about overspecialization as explanation.

Naruto had begun working more with his Suiton affinity, and it was discovered that Kiba had a Raiton affinity, which Kakashi had been helping the Inuzuka heir with. Some teachers would have focused on one student over the others, but Kakashi had made judicious use of the Kage Bunshin to give all three of his genin the one-on-one training they needed.

One day, as they were waiting for him near the monument, with all three students chattering away happily, Kakashi approached them, smirking slightly. "Alright guys, I've got two announcements. No missions today, for one." His smirk turned into a grin at Kiba's happy shout.

"The other one is that I've decided to enter you guys into the Chunin Exams. At the very least, it will give you some more experience." Handing out the sign-up sheets, he disappeared in a shunshin, intending to allow his students the freedom to choose whether or not they were going to enter.

"Yes! We're gonna kick everybody's ass and become Chunin!" Kiba crowed, taking off for home so that he could begin filling out the sheet. Plus, his mom had promised to teach him another technique if he got home early enough, which was all the incentive he really needed.

Naruto folded up his sheet and put it into the pocket of his pants. In one of his many shows of chivalry, Naruto took off his hoodie and handed it to Ino before he left the training ground, intending to return to the Sarutobi estate. He bowed his head while walking, uncaring of the rain that pelted down against him.

Shrugging the now-sleeved jacket on, Ino began her own walk home, resisting the urge to smell the coat, which had Naruto's scent all over it.

It smelled like rain.

Okay, she'd smelled it.

Once.

* * *

When Naruto got back to the compound, he shook his head like a dog to get some of the water out of his hair. After taking a shower, he began reading a book, only to be surprised by the door opening.

"Hello?" He called out, marking his page.

"Ah, Naruto-kun. You're home." Sarutobi greeted, taking off his robes to reveal his simple black shirt and pants that he wore underneath. Handing his adopted grandson a scroll, he smiled at the boy.

"This was the summoning contract that Senju Tobirama, my sensei as well as the Nidaime Hokage, used." Naruto reverently opened the scroll, which was decorated in designs that looked like seashells and waves.

"I found it recently when I was straightening up the Hokage's library. It's a hobby of mine. And my predecessors had no sense of how to keep things in order, apparently." The Sandaime explained, his smile only widening at Naruto's elation over holding such a storied contract in his hands. Reaching out, he took it back, breathing a sigh at the white-haired boy's quizzical look.

"I don't feel that you're ready for the responsibility of being a summoner. Pass the exams, and you'll have proven me wrong, and you'll then be allowed to sign it." Naruto nodded, resolving himself to pass. Having a summoning contract would be awesome! Especially one that was used by the Nidaime.

* * *

Ino had pulled the hood of Naruto's sweatshirt up over her hair shortly after exiting the training grounds, and zipped it up too. Her hands were covered by the sleeves, so much so that only her fingers poked out of them.

She made her way through Konoha's streets, which were mostly devoid of life, save the occasional ANBU patrol, thanks to the rain. Honestly, she was a little happy about that. She'd rather not have to explain why she was wearing a boy's hoodie.

Arriving home, the Yamanaka heiress entered her home via the back door that led directly into the house itself, and took off her sandals by the door. Scaling the stairs up to her room, she changed her clothes and threw the wet ones in the wash before she headed downstairs to run the shop until her mother or father got home. Her sign-up sheet for the exams was on her nightstand, next to the picture of Team Ten that depicted the foursome about a month into their status as a team.

It had been taken in front of the memorial stone, and Kakashi was standing in the background, laughing as Naruto was forced into giving Ino a piggy-back ride (she had jumped on his back), with Kiba standing next to them, arms crossed over his chest, attempting to look cool. Akamaru rode on the Inuzuka's head, giving a happy bark at the camera.

Ino was sitting at the counter of the flower shop, reading through one of the medical texts her mother had given her when she'd expressed an interest in medical jutsu.

"Ino, whose sweater is this?" Her mother asked, appearing behind her daughter using the Angry Mother Jutsu.

"Uh... Naruto's?" The blonde answered, looking up from her book at Izumi, who looked furious at the prospect of her daughter wearing a boy's clothes.

"I will not have my only daughter wearing a boy's clothes when she's only just entered puberty!" Izumi ordered, thrusting the hoodie towards her daughter.

"Mom, that's not what he gave it to me for!" Ino tried, in vain, to reason with her mother, who seemed to have made up her mind. It was nearly impossible to get her mother to change her mind.

"I don't care what he gave it to you for! It's clear that he wants to get in your pants!" Ino turned scarlet at her mother's comment from a combination of anger and embarrassment, and then displayed just what being on a team with three males had done to her.

"I don't wear pants! I wear a skirt!" She cried, taking the sweater from her mother, who seemed in shock over the comment. Gathering her things quickly, Ino went up to her room, knowing she'd catch hell for that. But the look on her mother's face was worth it.

* * *

When July 1st rolled around, the trio met up outside the Academy building, greeting each other. For some reason, Ino's cheeks flushed immediately upon noticing Naruto. Both of her male teammates noticed the fact that she was wearing one of Naruto's sweatshirts, though she'd modified the length so it actually fit her.

"Why is Naruto's scent all over you? And why are you wearing his clothes? Is there something I should know?" Kiba asked with a shit-eating grin on his face. Ino's blush deepened, and Kiba scored some points on Naruto, for the white-haired Sarutobi's jaw immediately dropped upon hearing Kiba.

"Shut up, Kiba." Naruto muttered, then turned and led the way inside the Academy. If one looked closely, there was a very faint flush to his cheeks, and his final words on the matter were barely heard by his teammates. "Stupid jiji and his fucking books."

Entering the Academy, the trio was greeted by the sight of the second floor being covered in genin. Apparently, some of Naruto's fan-girls had just been dismissed from their remedial classes, for there was a sudden cry coming from one of the nearby halls. "Ino is such a slut!"

The blonde looked positively murderous, and was only saved from fratricide by the timely intervention of Naruto, who picked her up and threw her over one of his shoulders, then turned towards the stairs.

"See! She's such a whore! Letting Naruto-kun pick her up like that!"

"Let me go, Naruto! I'm going to fucking kill them!" Ino began struggling on Naruto, who sighed and simply locked his arm tighter around her legs, causing her blush to return when she realized that his hand was uncomfortably high on her thigh.

Kiba was laughing uproariously at all of this, and decided to add fuel to the fire. "You know, girls, she's covered in Naruto's scent, too."

A collective gasp came from the fan girls, and Ino only attempted to struggle out of Naruto's grip even more. "Kiba, you're next!" She screamed, and then gave an 'oomph' as Naruto began scaling the stairs, purposely thrusting his shoulder up into her ribs in the process.

* * *

After Sasuke had decided to show how much of a dumbass he was to the world, Team Ten was finally on the third floor. Naruto's eye was twitching from the horror he had witnessed, in the form of two men clad in green spandex hugging.

"Congratulations, team, I can let you take the exams." Kakashi greeted, not bothering to look up from his book. He ignored the look on Naruto's face, who somehow managed to look furious and embarrassed at the same time, and the Sarutobi's gaze was focused on the orange book in his hands.

Ino was still fuming over the earlier comments given by the fan girls, and appeared torn between kicking their collective asses or continuing the exams.

"Huh?" Kiba broke the strained silence with a very eloquent response to Kakashi's greeting.

"If only two of you showed up, I couldn't let you through. I also didn't tell you that you had to take it as a team because two of you could have pressured the final member of your team into taking it." Kakashi explained, to which Kiba once again displayed his mastery over words.

"Oh."

Kakashi gave his infamous eye-smile, and vanished in a swirl of leaves. The look on Naruto's face cleared, and the team entered the exam room...

Only to be greeted by the sight of a certain pink banshee jumping onto Sasuke's back. The rest of the Konoha Twelve was focused on Team Kakashi, however, and Hinata promptly fainted upon seeing that Ino was wearing Naruto's clothes.

Still on Sasuke's back, who was attempting to get her off, Sakura decided to announce their arrival to the entire room. "Ino-pig! You gave up on Sasuke, huh? Good for you, since you obviously couldn't compete with me."

Spotting his chance via Sakura's distraction, Sasuke performed a quick Kawamiri with Kiba, and then greeted Naruto with a simple nod. Ino took her golden opportunity to get back at her rival, grinning in satisfaction.

"Wow, Forehead, I didn't think you were so easy that even Kiba could get with you." Sakura jumped off of Kiba, apparently horrified at the prospect and began brushing furiously at her clothes, saying something about getting fleas all over her.

"Alright you shitlings! Shut the fuck up and sit the fuck down!" This announced the arrival of a man wearing a long black trench-coat who glared at every single genin. Once everyone had taken their seats, the man promptly ordered them all to stand.

"Get up. Take a number. Your number will determine your seating arrangements. Once everyone's seated, we'll pass out the test." After the test was passed out by the chunin that had arrived along with the apparent proctor for this part of the exam, he spoke again.

"These are the rules. Anyone caught cheating will be disqualified. If you are disqualified, so is your entire team. You start with ten points. Each question you get wrong subtracts one point from your total. Begin." With that, there was the sound of rustling paper as the tests were turned over.

* * *

Just over an hour later, the breaking of glass announced the arrival of a demon. The demon sprung to its feet and addressed the first proctor, saying that he sucked at his job or something. Naruto was horrified at the demon's entrance, and prayed that it would not notice him.

Apparently, Kami would not answer his prayers, because the demon promptly sprang to his side, then picked him up and began snuggling him into her ample cleavage.

"Naruto-kun! I missed you so much!" The demoness cried, holding his face firmly in her cleavage.

Freeing himself from the demoness, Naruto sucked in the glorious air and refilled his lungs. "What are you doing here, Anko-sensei?" He asked warily, knowing that the woman would, doubtless, do even more to embarrass him.

"You don't miss me? But I missed you so much! All the time we spent cuddling!" Anko cried, pouting at him. He sighed, rubbing the back of his head. He would be lying if he said he didn't miss her, if only because she was refreshingly eccentric.

"Yes, Anko-sensei, I missed you." He admitted, letting a slight smile come to his face when she gave a happy cry and hugged him. It was at this point that she seemed to have noticed the fact that there were people other than Naruto there.

"Oh. Hi. I'm Anko Mitarishi, the proctor for the second part of the exam. Follow me." She released Naruto at the point and jumped out the window the way she'd come in, followed shortly by everyone else in the room, save Team Kakashi.

"Are you alright, Naruto?" Ino asked, helping him to his feet. Once he was up and brushed himself off, he reassured he that he was fine. "Follow me, I have an idea of where she's going." He sighed after that, knowing that the next week or so of his life was going to be hell.

Just before he followed his teammates out of the window, the lone remaining genin stared after his male teammate, then spoke. "You suck, Naruto." 


	6. Bring The Pain

"I fucking knew it." Naruto muttered, glowering at the rusted sign on the fence before them.

"Wait. You've been here before?" Ino asked, turning from the sign to Naruto, who nodded.

"Yeah. Anko-sensei thought the prospect of leaving a child inside that place for a week with no food or water served well for survival training. It did, I guess." He finished the last part, and then led the team over to the small kiosk set up outside the fence. The fact that its position was covering the hole created by some creature escaping went unmentioned.

"You were supposed to follow Anko." One half of the eternal chunins said, amused by the fact that they weren't being led around Konoha in a merry chase that would pass the Academy building three times.

"I didn't want to deal with Kiba trying to find out if she wore panties or not." Naruto deadpanned, taking the release forms from Izumo.

* * *

Their forms had been signed and given back to the Eternal Chunin before the other genin arrived, some looking extremely aggravated over passing many landmarks of Konoha at least twice.

"And that concludes Anko's grand tour of Konoha! I will not be answering questions. Go get your release forms, and then take your team to one of the gates. This stage of the exam begins in one hour."

A chunin-hopeful from Ame, apparently slow on the uptake, piped up. "What are the release forms for?"

"Oh, those? In case you get maimed, injured, or killed, Konoha is not held responsible." Anko responded cheerily, shortly after slicing open the genin's face with a kunai for asking a question.

"Any more questions?" The purple-haired woman asked, a sadistic grin on her face. When nobody asked any, that grin transformed into a happy smile. "Good! Now, get to your gates. Try not to die!" With that gem of advice, she hopped onto the kiosk that Izumo and Kotetsu were working inside, and began eating some dango.

* * *

"Alright, Kiba, take the scroll." Naruto stated quietly, handing it to his teammate/friend.

Confused, Kiba spoke, though he thankfully matched Naruto's silence. "Why?"

"Because," Here, the Senju heir glanced around for eavesdroppers, "You're the fastest and strongest of the three of us. If I get taken out, grab Ino and run for the tower. It's in the exact center of the forest."

"You're not going to be playing the hero!" Ino accused, earning a dry look from the 'hero' in question.

"Yes, I am. I'll do my best to hold off whoever is overpowering me until you two can get to the tower. Now, as for the plan, we're going to run into the forest for about two hundred yards, then make half a lap of the forest. That way, we'll avoid most of the other teams – not to mention their traps – and we'll take out any teams we come across until we get the scroll we need, and continue our half lap. There's a seldom-used back entrance to the tower, and we'll be using it to our advantage."

Ino and Kiba seemed satisfied with the plan, and didn't argue any further. Over the months of their status as a team, Naruto had quietly become the de facto leader, mostly due to his natural charisma than anything like a coup.

Unseen to the three, a snake slithered away from them, returning to its owner.

* * *

When the clock struck exactly two p.m., the gates all opened simultaneously, allowing the prospective chunin inside Training Ground 44.

Naruto took the lead, sprinting into the forest for two hundred yards then breaking away sharply to the left, as he had considered their position relative to the tower. Breaking right would bring them closer to the front entrance, which everyone else would be doing.

They didn't come across many teams, and the ones they did come across were easily dispatched. Each time, they used the element of surprise to their advantage, with Ino utilizing her Shintenshin No Jutsu to cause confusion in the ranks when one member of the team beginning to attack the others.

Naruto burned the scrolls they didn't need, eliminating competition. The Heaven scroll was given to Ino, because Kiba was carrying the Earth scroll. This way, if they were separated, it ensured that no other teams could get both scrolls.

* * *

A day passed, and Naruto judged them to be in the right area to head to the back door. He kicked dirt onto their campfire, which he had ensured was kept small to attract as little attention to them as possible.

Ino came back from washing her hair in the nearby stream that bisected the forest, and soon they were ready to go.

Their journey to the tower passed without incident, though when they got to the actual tower was a different matter entirely.

Anko was waiting for them, her arms crossed under her ample bosom. Ino elbowed Kiba in the side to ensure that he didn't stare too much.

"You're out of luck, Naruto-kun. Everybody has to use the front entrance. Them's the rules." She stated, producing a container of dango from a pocket of her coat.

"Fuck that. Rules are meant to be broken. Besides, a ninja doesn't use the front gate; they come in over the back wall." He stated, looking around to make sure they hadn't been followed.

"That's true. Gimme your scrolls and get to your room, then." Anko stated, seeming to be pleased with her sometimes-student. Ino and Kiba complied, seeing as it was an order from a superior.

Stepping around the sadistic woman that had taught him weapons, Naruto pulled the senbon from his mouth and entered the tower, beginning to climb the stairs up to the third floor, towards his home away from home.

* * *

The room was rather Spartan, the only decoration being a pair of plush animals on one of the shelves. One was a snake, the other a fox.

"Aw, Naruto, I didn't know you had stuffed animals!" Ino cried, having (naturally) noticed them immediately. Naruto, to his mortification, blushed.

"Yeah, Anko-sensei gave me them when I passed survival training." He muttered, refusing to comment on their meanings when asked.

"Don't worry about it. Get some rest you two; I've got to go see Anko-sensei. Before you ask why it has to be just me, she'd like it if you came along, so she could tease us mercilessly about being in a relationship." Somewhat put out, Ino took the small bed in the corner, while Kiba was forced to take the floor, using some spare blankets he'd found to make a makeshift bedroll. He would have used his own, but he'd rather not be reminded of that forest at the moment.

Soon, the remaining members of Team Ten were sleeping, while the third member climbed up to the roof of the tower and settled down on it, to wait for their sensei to arrive at the tower. Or, if he was already there, to find him.

* * *

As it turned out, Naruto didn't have to wait very long, because he was soon joined by Kakashi, who mirrored his position, staring out over the forest like Naruto was.

"Good job." Kakashi started, surprising Naruto. That wasn't how he'd expected things to begin, after all.

"For what?"

"If a kill was needed, you did it, and made sure Ino didn't see it. I'm proud of you, keeping her sheltered in childhood just a little bit longer. At the same time, I'm disappointed, though. She needs to realize that being a ninja isn't a game."

"I know. Most of my classmates act like they're playing ninja. There's a difference between getting results on a practice dummy and taking a life. Ino and Kiba will eventually have to do it." Naruto sighed, his gaze flicking from the forest to his sensei. Anko had him killing small animals for food before he was in the academy. While it was horrific to his young self, it also served to make him accept that killing came with the job.

"Indeed. Hopefully they'll accept it as a fact of life, like you have. Otherwise, they'll be forcibly retired. I know many former shinobi that were forcibly retired, either because they couldn't bring themselves to make the kill, or because they took far too much pleasure in it."

Standing, Kakashi's hand descended onto his white-haired student's shoulder, and he gave a small smile. "For what it's worth, I'm proud of you." He repeated, then vanished in a shunshin.

Naruto sat there long after his sensei left, thinking on what the older man had said to him.

* * *

After the reaming four days of the five day grace period passed, with teams trickling into tower on each day, they were all brought into one of the lower floors, this one housing the practice arena. They were greeted by the sight of the Hokage, flanked by some Jonin of Konoha.

"Good afternoon, genin. Congratulations on passing the second portion of the Chunin Exams. Unfortunately, there are too many of you for us to simply move onto the finals. Before we begin these elimination matches, I will impart to you the true reason for the exams. They are war games, for each of the elemental nations to gauge each other's strength without fully going to war." Understanding dawned on many of the more intelligent people's faces, while some simply didn't care, and others did not grasp the concept.

"Hayate, you have the floor." The Hokage finished, stepping back amongst the Jonin.

A cough announced the arrival of the sickly Tokubetsu Jonin, who began speaking, occasional coughs interrupting his speech. "Thank you… Hokage-sama. I will be proctoring these preliminaries. Each fight will be to the death, I call it, or one of the fighters surrenders… to the other. All decisions are final, and will not be disputed. The board behind me will decide the matchups randomly. When two fighters are selected, please make your way down to… the arena. Failure to do so will result in forfeiture of your match. There will be no postponements now or in the finals." Speech given, Hayate motioned for everyone's attention to focus on the board while he wiped his hand on a cloth he had taken out of his pocket.

The board flashed through many names before it settled on two, with the owners glancing at each other before shrugging, then making their way down to the arena, where they took up position across from each other.

One was relaxed, cracking his knuckles, while the other was tense, taking up his clan's fighting stance.

"First match, between Sarutobi Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke… Hajime!"


End file.
